Patrick



Feb. 9, 1960 D. PATRICK BUTTON COVER Filed June 7, 1956 INVENTOR. Janie!Pa 770/ Any.

United States Patent BUTTON COVER Daniel Patrick, East Providence, RI.

Application June 7, 1956, Serial No. 590,019

3 Claims. (Cl. 40-315) The present invention relates generally to thejewelry art, and more specifically to an ornamental cover for buttons.

A primary object of the instant invention is the provision of a coverfor buttons which is of particular utility on mens shirts wherebyconventional barrel cuffs may readily be made to assume the appearanceof French cuffs.

Another object is the provision of a cover for buttons having novel andimproved means for mounting same in position whereby the cover is lesslikely to become inadvertently detached and lost,

A further object is the provision of a button cover which readily lendsitself to a plurality of ornamental appearances.

Still another object of the instant invention is the provision of anornamental cover for buttons which is simple and economically feasibleto manufacture but which nevertheless is efiective and attractive inuse.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered inconnection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated byme for carrying out my invention:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a shirt cuff having thereon a buttoncover constructed in accordance with the instant invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of my button cover per se;

Fig. 3 is a side view thereof;

Fig. 4 is a rear view thereof;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing my button cover at thebeginning of its mounting operation; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view showing my button cover incompletely assembled position,

It has been found desirable to provide a button cover which may bereadily and simply mounted in position and which when in said positionwill be securely and rigidly mounted against inadvertent detachment. Mybutton cover readily lends itself to a plurality of ornamental.appearances and is of particular utility in connection with mens shirtswhereby conventional barrel cuffs may readily be made to assume theappearance of French cuffs. It will be understood that the instantinvention is not necessarily limited to this use, however, and thus mybutton. cover may have utility in connection with womens dresses or thelike as a means for readily providing and varying ornamental buttons.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown generally at 10 anornamental button cover constructed in ac-- cordance with the instantinvention. The cover 10 com-- prises an ornamental facing 12 having asubstantially flat rear surface 14 to which is secured a spiral wire 16.The inner end of wire 16 may be secured to the rear surface 14 by anydesirable means, such as soldering or the like, as shown at 18, Fig. 4.As will be seen most clearly in Figs. 3 and 4, the wire 16 comprises aseries of conice 'volutions of gradually increasing diameter, thesmallest convolution 20 being located closely adjacent to the surface14. Preferably, the smallest convolution 20 is a diameter slightlylarger than that of a button generally found on a mans shirt. The outerend of wire- 16 is provided with a spherical head 22, which beadfunctions to eliminate the presence of any sharp edges such as mightcause inadvertent tearing of the garment with which the cover is to beassociated.

It will be understood that the ornamental facing 20 may be of anydesired material but .is preferably metallic. Hence said facing may beengraved to provide any pleasing or attractive design or may otherwisebe ornamented, such as by the mounting of ornamental stones or the likethereon. It will be understood that the specific ornamentation utilizedforms no part of the basic inventive concept herein presented, and itwill be further understood that the ornamental facing 12 may assume anydesired size or shape. Similarly, the construction of the spiral wire 16may be slightly altered by varying the number of convolutions or thediametrical sizes thereof without departing from the scope of theinstant invention. As hereinbefore stated, however, it is preferred thatthe diameter of the smallest convolution of the spiral wire be slightlylarger than the button with which the cover is to be associated, forreasons hereinafter to be made apparent.

For purposes of illustration, my button cover has been disclosed in thedrawings in connection with a mans shirt cuff, and the operation of myinvention in connection with this use will now be set forth. Referringto Figs. 5 and 6, there is shown a conventional shirt cuff havingseparable portions 24 and 26. It will be noted that portion 24 carriesthereon a button 28, while the portion 26 is provided with aconventional button hole 30. For purposes of illustration, the thread 32which mounts the button 28 to shirt cuff 24 has been shown as beingsomewhat more elongated than normally would be the case. After the-shirtcuffs 24 and 26 have been buttoned together in the conventional manner,the cover 10 is centered over the button 28, and the outer end 22 ofspiral wire 16 is caused to penetrate the button hole 30, as shown inFig. 5. After the button hole has been so penetrated, the button coveris rotated whereby the spiral wire 16 in effect screws inwardly throughthe button hole whereby to assume the position of parts shown in Fig. 6.In this position, the button cover has been drawn tightly down onto thebutton whereby the latter is positioned within the smallest convolution20 in engagement with the central portion of rear surface 14. When thebutton and button cover reach this relative position, no furtherrotation of the cover is possible, and thus this serves as an indicationthat the cover is securely mounted in position. Once so positioned, itwill be apparent that the button cover will be securely maintained inplace against inadvertent detachment, the only way of detaching samebeing to reverse the rotation of the cover whereby to unscrew the spiralwire 16 from the button hole 30.

Thus it will be seen that there has been provided in accordance with theinstant invention an extremely simple but yet effective ornamental coverfor buttons and the like. As will be obvious from the foregoingdescription, my invention is applicable to any button, providing thatsaid button has been buttoned through a conventional button hole.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structureembodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the artthat various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventiveconcept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms hereinshown and described e2;-

3 cept insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A button cover comprising an ornamental faclng having a substantiallyfiat rear surface, and a spiral wire secured to said rear surface andextendinghelically therefrom, said wire having gradually increasingconvolutions, the smallest of which is juxtaposed to said rear surface.

2. In the button cover of claim 1, the free outer end of said spiralwire having an enlarged, spherical bead.

3. A button cover comprising an ornamental facing having a substantiallyflat rear surface, and a spiral wire secured to said rear surface andextending helically therefrom, said wire having gradually increasingconvolutions, the smallest of which is located closely adjacent to saidrear surface and is of a diameter just slightly larger than the buttonto which the cover is to be applied.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 37,777Simon Feb. 24, 1863 581,111 Goodwin Apr. 20, 1897 1,278,466 Parra Sept.10, 1918 1,419,034 Fishel June 6, 1922 1,774,033 Myers Aug. 26, 19301,962,953 Erwin June 12, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS 449,968 Italy July 5, 1949

